Above Mary Beth Fisher as Jackie Cochran in the Old Globe’s production of They Promised Her the Moon.
Women Pioneer the Sky in ‘They Promised Her the Moon’
The Old Globe tells the fascinating true story of Jerrie Cobb and the Fellow Lady Astronaut Trainees
The runup to July’s 50th anniversary of the first moon landing has seen renewed media interest in the 1960s Space Race, in the form of fresh perspectives on the people we know—like 2018’s First Man and the upcoming Apollo 11—and untold stories of the people we don’t…
I had the opportunity to talk about the play’s development and historical context with its writer, Laurel Ollstein, and director, Giovanna Sardelli, for our April issue, and I’m glad to report that Moon sticks the landing. (Sorry—couldn’t resist.)
Ollstein found a brilliant framing device: We open on Cobb (Morgan Hallett) about to begin her test in the sensory deprivation tank, where the program director, Dr. Randy Lovelace (Matthew Boston) warns that she may experience hallucinations. Turns out those hallucinations are visions from her past, so the first act alternates between conventional biographic snippets and “present day” exposition in the lab.
What I most enjoyed about this telling was how much time it spent in Cobb’s upbringing, painting flight as not just her vocation, but the singular joy and freedom of her life—she felt more at home in the air than on the ground.